Shirlington

Vietnamese Restaurant Coming Soon to Shirlington

By ARLnow.com

A new French-Vietnamese style restaurant called Lotus Grill and Noodles is coming to Shirlington.

The restaurant, which currently under construction in a 2,100 square foot space next to Extra Virgin restaurant, will feature Vietnamese specialties like phở, crispy spring rolls, grilled pork rolls, and other lunch and dinner items.

Building permits for the 40-seat restaurant were issued in March. A liquor license application indicates the restaurant will serve beer and wine.

Photo by Kham Tran via Wikipedia

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

The Stories Behind the Valor Awards — Wednesday’s Arlington Chamber of Commerce Valor Awards ceremony included some incredible tales of heroism in the line of duty by Arlington’s first responders. In addition to acts of bravery by firefighters and paramedics, there were stories of valor among Arlington’s law enforcement officers, including police officers who prevented a suicidal man from jumping off the Key Bridge in January, an officer who pulled the occupants of a burning, wrecked car to safety, and a Sheriff’s deputy who jumped on the electrified Metro tracks to come to the aid of a man hit by a train near Clarendon. [Sun Gazette]

Shirlington Dog Park Cleanup — Volunteers are being sought for a spring cleaning at the Shirlington Dog Park along Four Mile Run. The cleanup is planned from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 14. [Examiner.com]

Moran to Host ‘High Level Cyber Summit’ — Rep. Jim Moran will be hosting a summit and panel discussion in Arlington entitled “Cybersecurity in a Time of Defense Austerity.” Among the panelists will be the Department of Defense’s Chief Information Officer and representatives from the National Security Agency (NSA), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), U.S. Cyber Command, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The summit is being held on Tuesday, April 24 at the Virginia Tech Research Center in Ballston.

Olympic Gold Medalist Visits APS Schools — Steve Lopez, a two-time Olympic gold medalist in taekwondo, visited  students at Arlington Science Focus School and Washington-Lee High School. Lopez encouraged students “to say ‘yes’ to a healthy lifestyle and ‘no’ to underage drinking.” [Arlington Public Schools]

Photo courtesy Michael Resnick

I-395 Ramp Near Shirlington Blocked by Accident

By ARLnow.com

Police are blocking the ramp from northbound Glebe Road to southbound I-395 — and from southbound I-395 to Shirlington — due to an accident.

One person suffered a back injury as a result of the two-vehicle wreck, according to police radio traffic.

Cars that were stranded on the ramp as a result of the accident are being turned around by police. No word yet on how long the closure may last.

Village at Shirlington Begins Monthly Ladies’ Event

By Katie Pyzyk

The Village at Shirlington is kicking off a monthly event aimed toward the ladies. Starting tonight, the first Thursday of every month will be “Shirlie’s Girls Night Out.”

Shops and restaurants will offer a variety of specials, discounts, and trunk shows. Some stores will even offer cocktails or snacks to shoppers.

Participating establishments include CakeLove, Capitol City Brewing Company, Cheestique, Dogma Bakery & Boutique, Extra Virgin Modern Italian Cuisine, Hair Cuttery, Hardwood Artisans, Johnny Rockets, Le Village Marche, Luna Grill & Diner, Periwinkle, Studio Salon & Spa and VisualEyes Optical Boutique.

A similar type of event kicked off Shirlington’s restaurant week in October. Danielle Bolger, Marketing Coordinator for BrandLinkDC, says the event last fall was so successful and there was so much positive feedback, the decision was made to turn it into a monthly happening.

The event officially runs from 5:00 to 10:00 p.m., but hours for the specials may vary slightly among the individual establishments. You can see what each store and restaurant will offer on the Village at Shirlington website.

Shirlington I-395 Ramp Blocked by Accident

By ARLnow.com

Update at 10:40 a.m. — The Shirlington ramp has reopened and only the far righthand lane of I-395 remains blocked before the ramp.

Update at 9:30 a.m. — All but one northbound lane is now blocked.

The ramp from Shirlington circle to northbound I-395 is blocked due to an accident.

A U-Haul truck and at least one other vehicle was involved in the accident along the northbound lanes of I-395. The vehicles ended up on the ramp, which is now completely blocked by emergency crews. One northbound lane is also blocked.

At least one injury has been reported as a result of the accident. Police are now directing the drivers stranded on the ramp to turn around and find an alternate route to the highway.

The Curious Grape Reopens in Shirlington

By ARLnow.com

The Curious Grape has reopened as a wine store and restaurant in Shirlington.

The wine shop traded its former location at 4056 Campbell Avenue — now a Cheesetique wine and cheese store — for a much bigger location a couple of blocks away, at 2900 S. Quincy Street (next to the Energy Club). The larger, sunnier space has allowed owners Suzanne McGrath and Katie Park to to reinvent their store as “The Curious Grape Wine, Dine & Shop,” complete with a sit-down restaurant, coffee and wine bar, and fresh, house-made pastry selection. As before, The Curious Grape also sells wine, beer, cheese and other gourmet items retail.

The Curious Grape restaurant — which quietly started serving diners last night — is helmed by executive chef Eric McKamey, whose resume includes PassionFish in Reston, 2941 in Falls Chuch, and Central, CityZen and Proof in D.C. McKamey’s menu offers “an eclectic selection of seasonal starters, small plates and entrées,” with ingredients “sourced from the Mid-Atlantic region whenever possible.” A press release listed some menu specifics.

Standouts include the Crimini Mushroom Soup with toasted sunflower seeds and preserved mushrooms; Lightly Cured Hamachi with pomegranate, cumin, and preserved lemon; Lamb Empanadas with pumpkin seed salsa and crème fraiche; Sweet Potato Gnocchi with thyme, Taleggio cheese and black truffle; Pan Roasted Sea Scallops with black rice, bok choy and a plum wine sauce; Pene Pasta with a Vietnamese-spiced beef and lamb Bolognese, as well as Coffee and Cacao-Rubbed Beef Tenderloin with potato-fennel gratin, wilted spinach and Malbec bordelaise. A unique menu layout directs guests to wine pairings for each dish, and also encourages customers to “drink what they love”. Prices range from $7 to $8 for starters, from $13 to $17 for appetizers, and from $19 and $25 entrées.

In its 5,200 square foot space, The Curious Grape has a 10-seat wine bar, a 55-seat main dining room and a 40-seat private event space. The coffee and pastry “cafe” is open starting at 7:30 a.m. daily. For bar and restaurant patrons, the eatery offers a seasonal selection of beers on tap and by the bottle. Additional hours and reservation information are available on the store’s website.

1/15

Social Clubs Plan Leap Day Parties

By ARLnow.com

Several local social clubs will be toasting the arrival of “Leap Day” in Arlington tomorrow.

Tomorrow is Feb. 29, a date that comes around only every four years or so during a leap year. Leap Day, as it’s known, might not be an officially recognized holiday, but it does have its fans. At least three Meetup.com groups are planning Leap Day events here in Arlington. Among them:

  • The 20s and 30s Wine Lovers group will be holding a Leap Day happy hour at Cheesetique (4056 Campbell Avenue) in Shirlington, starting at 5:30 p.m. After sipping wine and sampling cheese, the group plans to head to a nearby bar.
  • The Fairlington Social Club is planning a “Leap Day Sadie Hawkins Happy Hour” at Bungalow Billiards (2766 S. Arlington Mill Drive) in Shilrington, starting at 6:00 p.m. The “Sadie Hawkins” part, in case you’re wondering, refers to a pseudo-tradition of women asking men out on dates on Leap Day.
  • An Alexandria social group is planning a “Leap Day Party” at Tortoise & Hare Bar and Grille (567 23rd Street S.) in Crystal City, starting at 7:00 p.m.

As for the motivation for having a Leap Day celebration, last week the show 30 Rock (pictured above) explained that February 29 is “a magical extra day… to do the things you normally wouldn’t do.”

For the local Meetup organizers, however, the motivation was more along the lines of: “why not?”

“[It] seemed like a good excuse to have a happy hour,” said Gary, organizer of the Fairlington Social Club event, in an email.

Screen grab via NBC

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Happy Valentine’s Day — Be sure to check out this article from last week for a list of last-minute Valentine’s Day date ideas.

Big Win for Washington-Lee Gymnastics — The Washington-Lee High School girls’ gymnastics team has captured the Northern Region gymnastics title for the first time in school history. The team is now a contender for the state title at a competition on Friday. [Sun Gazette]

Bicycle Ridership High for January — Thanks in part, perhaps, to the mild weather, Arlington County counted 140,252 bicycle trips along local trails during the month of January. The count is high by seasonal standards. [CommuterPage Blog]

Parking Spots in Shirlington — How many off-street parking spots are there around Shirlington Village? There are 2,446 such spots, according to a handy map of Shirlington garages. [Shirlington Village Blog Spot]

Flickr pool photo by Chris Rief

Bloomers to Hold Grand Opening

By Katie Pyzyk

A panty raid of sorts is coming to Shirlington this weekend. The newly opened store Bloomers (4150 Campbell Ave.) will be holding its Grand Opening celebration.

On Saturday, customers will get a free gift with purchase while supplies last, receive 20% off all merchandise and can enter a raffle to win three months free of the Panty of the Month Club.

Owners Angela and Kim first opened a store in Old Town Alexandria out of frustration that most underwear stores focus on lingerie and not pretty, comfortable sleepwear. They stress that their store centers around comfortable undergarments, pajamas and loungewear, but not lingerie.

The weekend promotions are good only on Saturday at the Shirlington location, but the Bloomers Facebook page has specials good at both locations for all of January.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Arlington Seeks Contractor to ‘Dump Bodies’ — Updated on 1/6/12 — This article has been corrected. Earlier: Among the “just in case” categories of contracting work for which Arlington County is seeking potential applicants is corpse handling. Listed under the heading “Dump Bodies,” the job would be awarded in the event of a disaster involving mass casualties. [Washington Business Journal]

Local Dems to Require Loyalty Oath, Too — The Republican Party of Virginia has been facing some scrutiny over its plan to require voters in the upcoming Republican presidential primary to sign a “loyalty oath.” Arlington Democrats, however, are planning to require something very similar for participants in their upcoming County Board caucuses. Caucus voters will be required to sign a statement pledging their support for the eventual Democratic County Board nominee. [Ode Street Tribune]

Cap City Launches Sunday Brunch Service — Capitol City Brewing Company in Shirlington is now serving brunch on Sundays. The brunch service, which features familiar brunch fare and “free-flowing” cocktails for a fixed price of $15.95, started on Jan. 1. [Facebook]

Obama to Visit Pentagon — President Obama is scheduled to visit the Pentagon around 10:50 this morning. While there, the president is slated to deliver a speech that will guide the Defense Department’s upcoming budget decisions. The speech comes as the Pentagon faces hundreds of billions of dollars in budget cuts. [Associated Press]

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

County Board Debate Scheduled — The six Democratic candidates for County Board, along with Green Party hopeful Audrey Clement, have been invited to participate in a candidate’s night debate on Tuesday, Jan. 10. The debate, which is sponsored by a number of civic associations as well as the Arlington Gay and Lesbian Alliance, will take place at McKinley Elementary (1050 McKinley Road) at 7:30 p.m. The Arlington County Democratic Committee has also scheduled its own candidate forum.

Petraeus Spotted in Shirlington — CIA Director Gen. David Petraeus was reportedly spotted eating and drinking with his wife at Guapo’s in Shirlington Village over the weekend. Petraeus isn’t the only powerful Guapo’s fan: House Speaker John Boehner has also been spotted there several times. [Shirlington Village Blog Spot]

Changes to ART 62 Route — Several significant changes to the ART 62 bus route start today. [CommuterPage Blog]

Neighborhood College Registration Open — Arlington County’s ‘Neighborhood College’ is accepting applications for its 2012 Civic Leadership Development Program. The free, eight-week course is open to all residents. It seeks to give students “the inside scoop on how County government works… helping you hone your civic leadership skills.” Applications for the 25 available slots are due Jan. 30. [Arlington County]

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